The present embodiments relate to a medical examination apparatus that includes an examination area in which an examinee is examined using an imaging device.
Examination apparatuses are known in different designs and use various imaging devices based on different image capture technologies to create diagnostically useful images of a person to be examined or of a region of a person. The examination apparatuses include, for example, x-ray machines including a radiation source and radiation detector by which x-ray images can be captured. Different types of x-ray apparatus are known, which are sometimes also used for particular diagnostic purposes. For example, a mammography unit used for carrying out breast examinations, X-ray machines with wall-mounted detectors for obtaining images of a standing person, C-arm x-ray machines often guided on supports and ceiling-mounted trolleys. As an alternative to conventional x-ray machines, computed tomography (CT) scanners employ x-ray radiation, but have a usually cylindrical examination area in the form of a patient tunnel into which the patient is introduced on a positioning table. The tunnel is encircled by an x-ray tube so that radiographic images can be acquired from any position. MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scanners make use of the interaction between an applied magnetic field and electron nuclear spins to produce images. MRI scanners include machines that have an essentially cylindrical patient tunnel into which the patient is introduced lying on a table. However, open systems include two magnets disposed vertically one above the other between which the patient can be introduced from the side.
The examinee is positioned correctly in the examination area in order to ensure that the body region to be examined is correctly positioned in the center of the imaging device. Often actions have to performed on the examinee before the examinee is moved into the examination area or when the examinee is already in the examination area, such as connecting items of equipment or even minor surgical procedures such as taking a biopsy or inserting a catheter. This requires that the person responsible, such as a medical auxiliary or a doctor, has a sufficiently good view of the area in which the examinee is located and in which the person responsible intends to carry out the procedure. As medical examination equipment is often in a windowless or darkened room, which is usually conducive to patient comfort, ceiling-mounted luminaires are regularly used, such as point light sources, which illuminate the room as a whole. Via these luminaires a background light is produced that illuminates the examination area or the periphery of the examination area. However, such illumination is often inadequate, and the problem sometimes arises that the examinee or the person treating the examinee cast shadows.